Living in Zen: Perfectly Simple 1-Story Lake House Property

There is no money shot. No single photograph presents the complete picture of this home, composed of layered details and subtle strategies suitable to the landscape and climate … and more comfortable-looking with each closer look.

There is something of Mies in the rhythmic use of concrete, black and large floor-to-ceiling glass panels … but also something of Wright in the use of water, rocks and overlapping layers.

Elegantly elemental, the design embraces fire, water wind and earth with sublime simplicity, with a clearly-central hearth, zen-like rock-and-water pools, ?paths for wind (and areas of protection from it) and a close connection to the ground all around.

Alcoves are carved in to form a H shape wrapping around outdoor courtyards on either side of the structure.?Sloping rooftops tilt in toward the center, reinforcing the sense of a sheltered core.

Tectonic corten steel is balanced by thin-sliced horizontal rusticated wooden slats, giving the exterior a dignified aged appearance all around and blending it into its forest surroundings (as well as additional sunlight during long-dark times of the year).

An open fireplace connects inside and out, with covered patios connecting common outdoor spaces with more-sheltered interior ones. Designed by WRB Architects, this modest-but-powerful house sits outside of Stockholm.